Ag
Secretary Welcomed Into State Nursery/Landscape Hall
of Fame New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Art Brown,
Jr., was inducted into the New Jersey Nursery and
Landscape Association (NJNLA) Hall of Fame this month.
This is the highest honor NJNLA bestows and is presented
to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary
service to in the field of horticulture, the nursery/landscape/garden
center industry, and NJNLA, during the length of
his/her career.
In presenting the award, NJNLA president
Peter Haran said that Brown had charted a course for taking Garden
State agriculture into the 21st Century, "a course focused on marketing,
farmland preservation, soil & water conservation, and animal
and plant disease prevention." Under Brown's leadership, NJDA set
national marketing standards with its award-winning Jersey Fresh
program which has expanded its coverage to include the Garden State's
nursery/landscape industry. Haran noted Brown's strong support for
the needs of the nursery/landscape/garden center businesses during
drought and other natural disasters and credited Brown with developing
one of the most successful nursery industry recycling programs in
the nation. NJNLA also praised the development of NJDA's soil & water
conservation program during Brown's tenure and applauded his tireless
efforts to retain a strong, viable agriculture industry in New Jersey.
Born in Fulton, New York and raised on a Massachusetts dairy farm,
Brown earned a bachelor of science degree in animal science from
the University of Massachusetts and a master's degree in horticulture
from Cook College. Before becoming Secretary of Agriculture in 1982,
Brown worked as a county agriculture agent for 11 years and attained
professorship at Cook College. Brown currently serves as chair of
the Agricultural Research Task Force of the National Association
of State Department of Agriculture; chairman of the United States
Department of Agriculture's Census Advisory Committee; and chairman
of both the New Jersey State Agriculture Development Committee and
the State Soil Conservation Committee. He is also a trustee of the
Southern New Jersey Development Council and a member of the Board
of Managers of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Brown
is a member of the New Jersey Agricultural Society, the New Jersey
Agricultural Museum, the New Jersey District Export Council of the
United Stated Department of Commerce, the National Association of
State Departments of Agriculture and the New Jersey State Planning
Commission.
In 1996 he received the President's
Award from the US Harness Writers Association and in 1995 he was
name Horseman of the Year by the New Jersey Horse Council.
|
|
|